SELF Admits Photoshopping "Role Model" Kelly Clarkson
So Kelly Clarkson has been photoshopped again, this time on the cover of SELF. From Jezebel:
On the new cover…the editors did everything they could to obscure what her body actually looks like. Her right arm is totally invisible and much of her left arm has been cropped out. A yellow dot strategically obscures the area where her butt meets her lower back and white pants against a white background make her legs almost invisible.
According to Jezebel, SELF admitted the photoshopping… while also touting Clarkson as “a great role model for women of all sizes.” Nice hypocrisy there, SELF! Here is the quote from the editor in chief (brackets mine):
“Kelly Clarkson exudes confidence [despite the fact that she is not skinny enough for our cover], and is a great role model for women of all sizes [including you, fattie, so buy our magazine] and stages of their life [sic]. She works out and is strong and healthy [which means she should be skinnier, so we fixed that], and our picture shows her confidence [that media outlets like us are doing our damndest to erase] and beauty. She literally [not literally] glows from within. That is the feeling we’d all want to have. We love this cover [buy our magazine] and we love Kelly Clarkson [more when she is skinny].”
Kelly herself, inside the magazine, says “My happy weight changes… Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time. When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t. I’m fine!’ I’ve never felt uncomfortable on the red carpet or anything.” I hope she can keep that mentality going in the face of crap like this from the likes of SELF. And Margaret at Jezebel sums it up well:
Danziger is is right: Kelly Clarkson is a “great role model for women of all sizes.” When the press goes after celebrities for gaining weight many apologize to the public, like Oprah Winfrey or Kirstie Alley, or frantically exercise and appear on the cover of Us flaunting their slimmed down selves like Jennifer Love Hewitt. So far Clarkson has only declared that she’s OK with her body and backed her statements up by performing in clothing that exposes her figure, rather than hiding under billowy outfits. Of course, now Clarkson has appeared with a newly-slim body on the cover of Self, but it’s a decision the editors made for her, rather than a message she wanted to put out herself.
I wonder if Kelly minds the photoshopping this time?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: American Idol, Celebrities, Kelly Clarkson, Magazines, Photoshop
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It makes no sense to photoshop Kelly, we know she doesn’t have the generic super-thin Hollywood body, why try and edit her into something she’s refreshingly not?
SELF is the magazine of mixed messages. You could develop DID from reading it.
The mixed message reminds me of an article in the (parody) newspaper “The Onion” several years ago “Women Starving Themselves Past the Point of Hotness” (link: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/40998 Also, heads up that it might be triggering for people with past eating disorder issues.)
There’s a constant mixed message in the media – accept yourself and be happy, just so long as you’re still within the range of what we consider attractive.
Your HTML is borked and it’s messing up the whole front page. Just so you know. <3
Thanks for the heads up, Nomie! I think it’s fixed now!
SELF is the magazine of mixed messages. You could develop DID from reading it.
That’s why I quit reading it.
Skinny sells magazines, I guess those who are prideful of their figures have no say … I’m just disturbed it’s a body confidence issue … so much for confidence :/ … and so much for being your SELF …
I don’t think the photoshopping this time is that drastic. Kelly said that her weight fluctuates all the time, so maybe she was thinner during the Self photoshoot?
The photo is undeniably edited, but minimaly so.
That just sucks.
I have the same reaction I have to this that i have to youtube viseos that make sure to mention “fat girl” in the tag. I click out of morbid curiosity and then wait for the titular fat girl.
She rarely appears. Rather, it’s usually a slim girl who doesn’t have the required thin arms or legs.
It bothers me that I say “huh. She’s klinda chubby” when i see someone like Kelly Clarkson. She’s not. It’s that the models and starlets are actually very thin.
And I love the term “borked” and shall use it forthwith!
I also like the term “biffed.”
OMG, Kelly’s body is so beautiful why photoshop it. Has the world gone mad. Paris anorexic Hilton is portrayed as a sex symbol and Kelly is made fun of. I really don’t get this world I’ll take Kelly over all those skinny Hollywood chicks. I am obsessed with her – curves. G-d she is so hot. That is what a woman should have curves, around the world people realize that she is sexy. It is only in America and in Europe that a woman with a womanly figure is not considered sexy.